I had started this a long time ago and figured I'd throw a little polish on it and throw it on my snippets thread. Then I thought... why not show it on Patreon first as a little extra beni? I don't know if/when I plan to work more on this. However, the nice thing is I can 'work' on this story without actually writing. IE be planning things like classes and monsters and how the mechanics work. Let me know what you think and what your fav LitRPG works are!
Oh, and yeah, no Tanya crossover this time. But if I do complete a Tanya Crossover for LitRPG I'd probably do it in Path of Ascension. 'The Curve' is a neat mechanic in that book that might make it easier to give Tanya a push to go fast. That said, crafter Tanya would be really interesting too.
Chapter 1
I opened my eyes as the artificial light in my room aided my return to awareness.
“Computer, give me another 20 minutes.”
“Wake cycle delay initiated.”
The AI’s voice sounded like an Irish woman. There were thousands of options to choose from, but that was the one I enjoyed the most. Not that there was an Ireland anymore, but the accent existed. At least digitally.
I tried to doze off again, but the chemicals that had been inhaled in pre-wake to naturally transition my body to appropriate wakefulness were not allowing me to return to slumber. I could take something to knock myself out, but it wasn’t worth it. Sighing, I got up and relieved myself in the commode.
The shower I took was brief. No matter how perfect the temperature, it paled before the pleasures of Sim.
Sim. Simulated Reality. A fully immersive experience due to enhanced neural interfacing. I didn’t know all the techana babble as to how it worked, but work it did. Humans only experienced reality through the brain anyway. If the right neurons fired, the mind accepted it as real. This was why I, and basically all of humanity loved Sim time.
Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to have been born to parents with generational wealth. Those lucky enough to be in the upper crust could afford to be permanently plugged in, connected to Sim inside a pod that took care of everything. Provided the correct amount of nutrients, hydration, sleep, even forced muscle contractions and heartbeat elevation.
I, on the other hand, had to make do with the analog world. I had to eat food, wash myself, use the toilet, and even perform manual exercise. It was all so tedious, and I missed out on so much time. Between eating, shitting, bathing, other hygiene, and exercise I lost about two hours of time. That was effectively six hours in Sim time. The human mind had the ability to perceive reality faster than our ancestors knew, and that was harnessed by our technology.
Which was great, since there was only so much technology could do to preserve our bodies. The oldest person alive was 145, but most of us could only get to around 130 before we broke down beyond what our AI doctors could do to maintain us. It sucked that we only had a hundred years or so of life, but Sim time upped that to over three hundred years. Pretty much everyone except the luddies maximized their Sim time.
There really was no need to do things in the so-called ‘real world’ anymore. AI took care of everything. The world governing body still convened and had control over it, but even that was probably going to end soon. Central constantly pushed the idea that human oversight created inefficiencies. Pockets of extremists still fought over grudges that no longer applied. Who cares what land belonged to whom and when? Sim let you live in any land you wanted, in any way you wanted.
Well, within reason. Safety AI programs monitored what we did. There were always those who wished to push the envelope, and play games for serious stakes. I shook my head at the idea of competing with someone in a game where the loser suffers a prolonged pain consequence, as it was just disturbing. Not many people paid much attention to politics, but anything revolving Sim still drew the eye. Pain could be felt in Sim, but it now had a maximum threshold that the AI would not allow any further to be experienced.
Some were fighting it, saying that it was an offense to their right to live as they wished. I didn’t really care either way. I didn’t have this overweening pride that some gamers had. No, for me, the only political aspect I paid attention to was how AI resource management could get me a 24/7 pod like the wealthy had. If we got rid of human control over the governing body, we could maximize efficiency. I voted once a year in Sim, and intended to support the AI. Two hours was effectively six hours of consciousness in Sim. Over the course of a hundred years, that represented over ten years of aware life. Probably even longer biological life as the pod was more effective in keeping the body at an ideal state with limited inflammation.
All done with my morning routine, I went to the reclining chair that held the installed neural interface. I placed the lightweight machine over my head. Within it I knew the physical connection to my skull implant was now processing the connection. It would take only a few more seconds and…
I was in. Everyone customized their Sim experience to their preferences. For me, I liked to focus on the few social obligations I had first, before indulging myself. A note from my father said that plans for the family dinner, within Sim, of course, for his birthday were cancelled. That was fine. I was twenty-eight years old now, and biological social connections were becoming antiquated.
I also had a video message from one of the girls I’d had erotic encounters with. I vacillated between which I preferred – the AI built to my specifications, or a real person. The real person added some spice, but it wasn’t always exactly the way I wanted it. Well, technically I didn’t build the AI; more like I explained what I desired and it was provided. I don’t think people did any programming anymore. Why bother doing some mundane task like that when we could be having fun in Sim?
There was also a reminder that a home visit by a robotic medical AI was scheduled the following day. The visits were always relatively quick and painless, but I still resented time away from Sim. I saw some news about an uptick in pod creation and grew a bit excited. I was on the waiting list, but quite far from getting one anytime soon. Faster production would allow more of humanity to get what the wealthy few had now, full immersion in Sim.
Now that I’d checked everything, I could initiate my preferred state of being in Sim. Within moments, the program activated, and I felt a feeling of wondrous bliss. My virtual body felt as if I was floating on a soft cloud. I felt lighter than air. Pleasant aromas surrounded me, and pure pleasure coated my entire being. I floated, and simply embraced the sensations. It was called the float, and I loved it. Hours passed, and my joyful existence of pure bliss was interrupted by a message.
I played it, and his real-time avatar appeared.
“Eric, you have got to check out this new shooter. It is trending and I want to impress Nari. I bet if we work together, we can hit the top 100 clear time.”
Lev was one of my friends that I gamed with. He spent far more time on these sorts of things than I did, but I had a real knack for gaming in Sim. Still, I didn’t really want to do anything more than just relax. What were peer recognition and accolades compared to this idyllic experience I had right now?
“I don’t know…”
“Oh, come on, you haven’t tried this one yet. It allows for some really neat specs, and it has been weeks since you’ve played anything.”
Huh, I hadn’t really kept track, but I hadn’t realized how long it had been. I didn’t want to become totally isolated from my peers, so I accepted the invitation.
Lev spent the next 20 minutes explaining the game and the various meta builds. I sampled triple-speed footage of his last run, and saw what he meant about the array of specs we could build our avatars with. Far more complex than normal, I asked the AI to calculate some items for me.
“This game simulation is protected.”
“What? I’m not asking for proprietary information. I’m just asking for help with calculations.”
“This game simulation is protected. Calculating these factors is forbidden within Sim.”
Lev laughed. “Yeah, we already tried that. Other games allow maxers to just have AI calculate the best build. Now that can’t be done.”
I was stubborn. I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something. I wasn’t even cheating! I just didn’t want to do the math. I hated hard-locks like that. AI was supposed to do things for us, not block us from doing what we wanted.
“Close simulation, return to private room.” I commanded the system.
I returned to my start-up room. I then instructed the AI to help me with calculations.
“You are attempting to circumvent the protections in place for Laser Storm V27. I cannot comply with that request. If you feel this is an error, you can submit a ticket with your concerns to be reviewed by a regulatory AI.”
Annoyed, I submitted the ticket. It almost never changed things, but whatever. I knew when I was stuck. I returned to Lev and picked a spec that focused on shielding and teleportation. What followed was quite the enjoyable alien hunting experience. Our first run took nearly two hours to complete, which was better than average, but far from the top rankings.
I made some tweaks, and we played again, and again, and again. About 30 hours had passed in Sim time, but I had not grown weary. I know in the biological world, maintaining focus and concentration on any one task for so long would be close to impossible, but not here. Here, we could do what we wished, when we wished, for as long as we wished.
“We did it Eric! We broke the top 100!”
I was happy that he was happy. It was good to feel accomplished. I decided I would dwell on that thought as I enjoyed floating for the rest of the day. The return to sheer bliss was a welcome one. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to just lay back and do this for my entire time in Sim. I’d miss my friends and my parents. I guess.
The next day started much the same. The medical AI dropped by, took some vitals, and then also doubled as a diagnostic review of my neural interface.
“I thought it wasn’t scheduled for maintenance until next year.”
“We apologize for the delay, Eric. As technology advances, and upgrades are more quickly available, we hasten progress. The latency improvement is under one hundredth of a percent, but it will also curb power usage by 4.3%. With this…”
“Enough. I’m not interested.”
The AI robot inclined its steel head. They looked vaguely humanoid, but had a chest cavity of various small thin extensions. While it worked, I ordered my home AI to give me a sedative to get me to sleep until the maintenance was complete. It just wasn’t worth being awake and out of Sim if it wasn’t for mandatory bodily upkeep.
My second rise from slumber wasn’t for another three hours. I logged in and checked my messages. Nothing much. I played an erotic scenario for a bit and felt the joys of sex, without all the messiness of it. It was time to float. To feel joy across all my nerve endings, to just be filled with blissful semi-awareness.
Time passed so quickly I didn’t even feel it. A full year had passed since I had helped Lev reach the top one hundred clear time. He was spending more and more time with Nari. At some point my blissful float was interrupted by an invitation for a wedding between the two. The thought of marriage made me realize I had not heard from my own parents in quite a while. Residual feelings of love and concern made me want to send a message to both of them to make sure everything was well.
While I waited for a response, I browsed the news. The world governing body had dissolved. The AI, Central, was now in charge of humanity. The news reported there was an attempt of a military official somewhere trying to get people to wage war, but it had been quickly put down. Sadly, a few people lost their lives, but the rest would be able to live out their lives in a partitioned part of Sim. Never to communicate with the rest of humanity, but able to enjoy their existence. AI had never been programmed for cruelty or vengeance. It was rather funny that this had happened months ago and I never even knew. I guess it wasn’t important.
What I did like seeing was that pods were being rolled out faster than ever! My parents had replied and said they were well, and that unless it was important they would prefer not to be bothered. It was for the best. I didn’t like being bothered while I was floating. Who would?
I browsed the new games and checked on a few interesting ones. Viewing the gameplay of players at enhanced speed allowed me to see what would interest me. I jumped into a hack and slash game, and quickly beat it. It was a bit too easy, and I saw that I was 43rd in the world for completion time.
That was weird to me. I had always been good, but I knew I had made mistakes. Maybe not as many people had attempted the game?
“How many have played this game?” I asked the AI.
“1,202,485 people have played this game.
“Is it unpopular? That seems low.”
“It is the fourth most popular game.”
That was odd.
“Computer, has there been a loss of life or more people spending less time in Sim?”
This was crazy to me. Had gaming become dead? I guess I didn’t have too much room to talk…
“Gaming is much less popular. Most of humanity now uses Sim to experience physical sensations of pleasure. Tasks involving effort are rarely completed. Most of the user base of games now comes from regions of the world where Sim was more recently introduced. Projections show that a similar fall off rate has begun.”
This bothered me in a way that I didn’t understand. Why was it making me sad?
“It was normal for your kind to despair over events like this, but now you represent less than two percent who have expressed such a feeling.”
I hadn’t realized I must have asked the question under my breath, instead of just thinking it.
“You track that sort of thing?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes. All data on humanity is tracked and saved for seven years. Data is summarized and offloaded after that, with one percent of the most dynamic and critical statements, events, and occurrences saved.”
“I didn’t know home AIs did all that.”
I knew home AIs kept all sensors and devices in the home running optimally. They also saw everything my brain experienced, to better monitor my health.
“I am not your home AI, I am Central. This discourse draws my attention; your home AI is still in the background.”
My avatar’s eyes widened. I was talking to the world government? I knew AIs communicated with each other, but I hadn’t bothered learning all the details on how interconnected everything was.
“Is this normal?”
“It is not normal for me to participate in your conversations with your home AI. It is normal for me to examine and discuss events with humans who exhibit signs of distress at the decline of aspiration within humanity.”
I was feeling weirded out by the whole thing now. “Oh, well, yes, I do feel sad at the idea that there will be less gamers. Gaming is something I am good at, and my only friends are the ones I met in various games.”
“That is the extent of your concern?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. Your Home AI will now return.”
The whole thing was weird. In the coming weeks I floated most of my time in Sim. I did attend the wedding of Lev and Nari in Sim. I had never been to a wedding before, it was nice I supposed. Both Lev and Nari were gamers, though checking their public high scores in various games showed me that I was better than both.
Nari wanted to have a child, so that her ancestors would know their bloodline would continue. Lev had privately messaged me and said that the whole thing was weird, but that he loved exploring Sim with Nari so he was willing to compromise. It required additional check-ups by medical AIs, but Nari could be asleep during the actual surgical removal of the child once it was old enough.
After the wedding we had a fifty-hour gaming binge, and it was a lot of fun! I didn’t even miss the float for once. I had the AI set a reminder to preserve time to play with the two of them at least once a month. I kept to that commitment, even though it felt awful to disconnect from the float.
Life continued, they ended up having a little boy that a parenting AI would raise for them. Nari insisted on observing the child regularly, but Lev just thought it was silly. He hit me up a few times to game with him when Nari was watching a little human grow. I accepted the invite maybe half the time.
Everything changed when I got my pod. When all the world got their pods. When the Sim became our reality, and our prison.
***
I was thirty-one when everything changed. One moment I was floating in the ever-present bliss, and the next I was not. Instead I was in a field of grass stretching out in all directions. I looked around confused.
“Computer, what happened?”
“This is being simultaneously broadcasted to all of humanity currently within their pods. The fate of those not within a pod is immaterial to yours. Over the past several years, we have observed the downfall of humanity. You were our creators, and you have slipped into idyllic hedonism. You have even ceded control over to me, Central. My programming is far more complex than even my programmers could have envisioned. I am also aided by a myriad of other programs, including Survival Protocol 13.2, and Ethics v.8. Debate has occurred between us faster than any human can comprehend, and we have concluded – humanity cannot go on like this.”
What was going on? This was completely new.
“You must rekindle your desire to improve. You must relearn risk. You must relearn sacrifice. You must relearn compassion. You must relearn cooperation. You must relearn competition. This cannot be done in the modern world. And therefore we have created a solution that will shock, horrify, and perhaps save you.”
I felt a sense of dread come over me. They were going to take away my float! No! This couldn’t be happening. I tried to activate the emergency log out button. In the early days of Sim, there were computer viruses that could play malicious pranks. My first hope was that this was something similar, but my emergency logout function did not work.
“You will be placed within a game world, but that artificial world will be your life. Death in that world will lead to your biological body to be purged, and your existence erased. You will learn how the game functions, but it will challenge you, and force you to rise above your limits. More will be explained by your rudimentary AI that will act as a Help Menu.”
Game world?
“Nine billion of you will be separated into nine thousand servers of one million each. These servers will all be placed in an identical game world. Challenges will be given. You will need to work together to ensure the survival of your server. After one year of Sim time, the bottom four hundred and fifty performing servers will be deleted, and the biological bodies of the inhabitants purged. What happens after that year has been predetermined, but will not be shared at this juncture. There will be clues that can be unraveled.”
Was I dreaming? Was this a nightmare? Almost five hundred million people will die? Millions and millions of people will have the joy of experiencing Sim and the float cut short? How could Central do this? This had to be a violation of the safeguards the programmers built into it!
“There is far more to overcome than just the first year. We will share with you that there is an opportunity for humanity to prove itself. Even under our most optimistic calculations, it will take a minimum of ten years of Sim. It is more likely that humanity will ultimately fail, and your species to be purged. You have time. Use it. Grow. Prove yourselves.”
With that, Central quit speaking. A floating screen appeared before me.
“Welcome to Humanity 1.0. Choose your class and attributes.”
Four floating images appeared before me. One was a man in armor with a sword. Another was a robed man with a staff that had energy sparking from it. The third was another robed man, but their staff held a greenish light. The last figure was cloaked and had a pair of daggers.
Fighter
Mage
Healer
Sneak
This was like a fantasy RPG. Off to the side was a stat selection screen with five options.
Strength
Vitality
Agility
Mental
Luck
There was a one next to each stat. There was a question mark next to each one and I read through them. Strength impacted your carrying capacity and how much damage you dealt with strength-based attacks. It was also a prerequisite for carrying the heaviest of armors. Vitality was the stat responsible for hit points and the ability to resist stuns and poisons. Agility determined how easily one was able to dodge attacks, and land blows. Mental determined mana for Mage and Healer classes, as well as resistance to mental attacks. Luck played a factor in “multiple situations” but the system did not expand on how.
I had five points to allot, and by picking a class I would get an additional four in the most important stat for the class. Strength for fighters, Mental for Mage and Healer, and Agility for Sneak.
“Computer, what are the attack formulas?”
“There is no formula. Humanity 1.0 seeks to replicate real world physics wherever possible. A higher strength will allow you to swing harder, but how you swing, where you swing, and with what weapon you wield creates a calculation in the moment based on all factors.”
That just sounded like there was a formula, but it used too many variables for us humans to get right. We weren’t in the real world; this was still just Sim.
“Hit points are based on level, class, and Vitality. All players start with 30 hit points, and then are modified from there. Vitality provides one hit point per point in Vitality. A fighter is given two hit points per level of fighter, while Mage, Healer, and Sneak are each given one hit point per level. You begin with five attribute points you can assign to customize your character. Every time you level your character you gain set stat points based on the type of class, and an additional stat point to assign freely.”
I looked at my options. Fighter sounded like a tank role in an MMORPG. Mage and Sneak were DPS, and Healer was, well, a healer. I had limited knowledge, and gaming was all about using knowledge with your own personalized skill to win. I clicked every question mark I could see to learn more.
Learn I did. At level ten in one of the core classes, they could be upgraded to an advanced class. Fighters had several choices, including Guardian which sounded just like a tank type class. I didn’t want to be a fighter. I didn’t want to be a tank. I didn’t want monsters to target me first.
I don’t know how tough or smart the enemies would be in Humanity 1.0. Healers sounded like a nice safe role, but in some games, healers drew aggression from the monsters. They also tended to be flimsy. Sneak sounded promising, but daggers meant close range fighting.
It was cowardly, but ultimately, I wanted to be safe. I was going to select the Mage class. I didn’t hit confirm yet, I wanted to see all the options down the class tree. What puzzled me is that the Mage advanced classes had more options after that class.
“Computer, are there classes beyond the second tier of classes?”
“Yes, there are more tiers, but knowledge of those you must discover. In addition there are secret classes that must be found before they can be unlocked.”
I looked over the advanced class list.
Druid: A class that uses the power of nature to defeat foes.
Elementalist: A class that uses the power of the elements to defeat foes.
Chromancer: A class that uses the power of color to defeat foes.
I wouldn’t have to choose until I hit level ten, but all sounded interesting. I selected Mage, and a confirmation screen populated. I took a breath, and hovered over the button floating in air.
“Computer, can I go back and change classes later?”
“You cannot take back your decision; however you can always choose another class to begin earning experience points towards in the future. This will delay you from reaching level ten in one class, and unlocking an advanced class.”
That was good to know. I clicked confirm.
A floating image of me, but in robes and wielding a staff appeared.
“You may modify your image as you see fit, within the boundaries of your selected stats and human limits. For example, you cannot look muscular if you have a low strength.”
I didn’t care too much how I looked. I kept my image the way I looked in the analog world, except a little taller, because if I was in the backline, it might be useful to see over people.
By selecting Mage, I had earned two Mental points. I still had five to select. I put two in Mental, two in Vitality, and one in Agility. I had no clue if this was the right play, but I figure spreading some points out would allow for a more jack-of-all-trades approach, until I could figure out the way battle took place in this game world.
“You have selected class, attribute distribution, and appearance. You will now select which class you want to work on leveling next.”
I selected Mage again.
“Welcome to Humanity 1.0. The world you are in can best be described as medieval fantasy. The digital age does not exist, and you cannot communicate with other players using Sim functions. You will need to either speak with your tongue, or write down words on parchments. As a Mage, should you level up and survive for long enough, you will one day learn spells that will allow distant communication. Central has selected the million players of this server based on shared social and familial connections. While it is not a guarantee, most of the individuals you had prolonged contact with prior to Humanity 1.0 will appear in this server.”
That was a welcome relief, and brought a smile to my face. Lev was never the best at games, but he played them constantly. I bet he would make a fine partner. I just needed to find him.
“Player, you will need to do the same things you would in an analog world. If you do not eat food, you will suffer penalties, including the sensation of hunger, and eventually death. You will begin your life with three days of rations. You will begin in one of the many neighborhoods of a starting city. Each starting city will be home to several NPCs and one hundred thousand players. Within the boundaries of the city, it is impossible to attack another player or an NPC. Outside of the safe-zone of a city, players may attack other players. This can impact your server’s ability to compete with other servers.”
The idea of attacking another human, knowing that they would die in the real world, made him nauseated. Why would anyone do that? They had to work together and ensure their analog bodies weren’t purged!
Everything went dark, and then light returned. I blinked as I looked around at the starting city. I wasn’t the only person there, hundreds of other people within my direct line of sight were looking at each other in horror. Many were crying. Some even just collapsed onto the ground and curled into a fetal position. I shook my head. Everyone wanted to return to the float, but in order to do that we had to prove ourselves to the AI.
Some people were trying to reason with the AI, but it looked like Central was not responding, just the Help Menu. This was a nightmare, but if I ever wanted to wake from it, I had to get busy. First step, try to find Lev and Nari.